“Some, especially the teenagers, shrugged and giggled when he showed them pornographic movies or jumped naked on their beds in the morning to wrestle and play. Others, it appears, didn’t get off so easily,” the article read. “For any number of young men who sought to join the world’s greatest boy bands, Big Poppa’s attentions were an open secret, the price some paid for fame.”

Pearlman had denied the allegations.

Pearlman started in the aviation industry but shifted focus in the early ’90s to music. As NPR’s Rebecca Hersher told our Newscast unit, “Pearlman created the Backstreet Boys in 1993, after funding a talent search for young musicians in the Orlando area. The quintet went on to become the best-selling boy band ever.”

He later managed other successful boy bands such as *NSYNC, LFO, Take 5 and O-Town. But as Becky reported, “his pop empire fell apart when he was accused of pocketing the profits of his young proteges, and Florida regulators uncovered a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.”

The reaction to his death from former band members hints at complicated relationships. “I hope he found some peace. God bless and RIP, Lou Pearlman,” wrote Justin Timberlake. “Mixed emotions right now, but RIP Lou Pearlman,” *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick tweeted. Lance Bass of *NSYNC wrote, “He might not have been a stand up businessman, but I wouldn’t be doing what I love today [without] his influence.”

About KQED

Support is also provided by Yogen and Peggy Dalal, Diane B. Wilsey, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Helen Sarah Steyer, the William and Gretchen Kimball Fund, and the members of KQED